The first beta of OpenSUSE Linux 10.1 has been released. Yoo can get it for PPC, x86 and x86-64 architectures; each release consists of a whopping 5 CDs. This beta comes with (CVS versions of) glibc 2.4 and GCC 4.1, X.org 6.9, KDE 3.5, GNOME 2.12.2 and the 2.6.15 Linux kernel. SUSE Linux 10.1 Beta 1 also comes with the Intrusion Prevention framework AppArmor 2.0. Download locations are in the release announcement.

GNOME 2.13.5 has been released. As always, the odd-numbered branches indicate dev-branches, and as such the 2.13.x series is the step-up to the GNOME 2.14 release, planned for March this year. Release notes: platform, desktop, and bindings; downloads: platform, desktop, and bindings.

Microsoft has changed the code-name for the next version of Windows after Vista from 'Blackcomb' to 'Vienna', according to company evangelist and blogger Robert Scoble. Blackcomb was named back in 2000, when Windows XP was still known as Whistler. But Microsoft says it needed a name that fit the 'Vista' theme.

With the next Itanium chip, Intel has abandoned a feature it once banked on but that never proved successful. Circuitry to let Itanium run software for x86 chips, such as Pentium and Xeon chips, is not present in the forthcoming 'Montecito' processor, according to the 176-page reference manual (.pdf) for the chip published this week. Update: El Reg has more on this story.

A faster Wi-Fi standard appears to be about a year away, after a task group unanimously approved a proposal for an update to the 802.11g standard.

Today, the Dutch headquarters of Apple held a press conference concerning the announcements made by Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, last week during MacWorld in San Fransisco. During the conference, the new products would be presented by speakers from Apple Europe, and afterwards there was time to get hands-on with the new products. I got invited to this event, so read on for a few notes.

A set of banchmarks has proven that under some conditions, WINE can beat Windows XP SP2 at some tests. To be exact, out of 147 tests, WINE beats Windows XP on 67. The WINE version used was 0.9.5, running on a Gentoo Linux system, with some fairly decent hardware.

"I figured out a way to get into the EFI menu on the new Intel iMac. I was attempting to install Vista, which did not work. As I discovered from poking around in the EFI there is no support for UDF or El Torito volumes. It seems only GPT and APM is supported. Writing a driver for EFI to support UDF should be easy enough for someone who knows how, one might even exist already. I'm going to give step-by-step instructions for getting in to the EFI so that some enterprising people will get to work on installing Windows."

"In the past month, there's been much ado about Xen in the online community, both from developers, columnists and the SearchOpenSource.com audience at large. First Xen was given the green light to become an open source killer app, thanks to the work done by companies like XenSource with its XenOptimizer 3.0 upgrade. Meanwhile, some users and analysts said the technology was unproven and had a ways to go before the killer app label would fit."

"When I first got into open source many moons ago, the advocacy movement was a thriving and vocal part of the community. Most of the movers and shakers back in the day were advocating the use of free and open software at work, to their friends and to their local community via LUGs and other groups. Back then, advocacy was a key part of the community, not only in showing existing computer users this alternative software, but also advising disadvantaged people for whom free software could really open up the doors to skill, employment and potential. Recently it seems this community-driven advocacy effort has petered out somewhat, and there are far fewer people talking about, conducting, exploring, refining and pushing open aource advocacy."

GNU/DOS 2006, the latest version of the FreeDOS distribution, has been released. New features include an easy installation/upgrade, package management utilities, the MTXE screen saver, Arachne GPL version 1.89, OpenGEM Release 5, vim 6.4, and other updates. Download it here.

"The sockets API lets you develop client and server applications that can communicate across a local network or across the world via the Internet. Like any API, you can use the sockets API in ways that promote high performance - or inhibit it. This article explores four ways to use the sockets API to squeeze the greatest performance out your application and to tune the GNU/Linux environment to achieve the best results."

"Companies using Linux for embedded applications may be unwittingly violating the Linux license and even breaking federal securities laws, according to a research published by Wasabi Systems. According to the study, the problem lies with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that companies disclose ownership of intellectual property to their shareholders. The study indicates that dozens of companies are discovered each year to have violated the terms of GPL, and if they are public companies, they are violating Sarbanes-Oxley."

Engadget has two great articles (Part I & Part II) on Digital Television (mobile and normal). However, if all these new standards and acronyms were not enough, Sprint is trying to push one more on us.